Cal QB Fernando Mendoza's High School Self Wouldn't Have Believed This

As Cal football prepares to make an historic leap into the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday night, quarterback Fernando Mendoza was asked to ponder a hypothetical question.

What would have been the reaction of the high school version of himself if he’d been told him that one day he would be taking an undefeated Cal team into an ACC game at Florida State?

“He wouldn’t have believed you,” Mendoza said. “The high school senior Fernando thought we were going to Yale and playing in the Ivy League.”

Well, the Bears showed up at the last minute and gave him his only FBS scholarship offer. The Ivy League was out and Mendoza was on his way to the Pac-12 . . . and now the ACC.

The Bears (3-0) will face the Seminoles (0-3) at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday. Kickoff is 4 p.m. PT.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox, whose team is off to its best start since 2019, called the game “an unbelievably exciting opportunity.”

Certainly it has a somewhat different feel than we all might have anticipated just a month ago.

The Seminoles, defending ACC champs and 13-1 last season, were ranked No. 10 in the AP’s pre-season Top-25. Now they have become the first team since 1974 — a half-century — to go undefeated in the regular season and begin the next year 0-3.

FSU remains a 2 1/2-point favorite, but that margin barely represents the benefit of the doubt a home team typically gets. This game is pretty much a pick ‘em.

Even so, Wilcox said his perception of Florida State hasn’t changed since the start of the season, when this matchup appeared to be a serious obstacle for the Bears.

“The records are the records, but if you sit down in our office and turn the tape on, you see what you see and you trust that,” Wilcox said.

“I think they’re a very, very talented football team. The games haven’t gone their way for one reason or another.

"They’re a very gifted team, they’ve got really good coaches and they’re a prideful outfit. So we know what’s in store and we’ll have to play our best game.”

Mendoza, who grew up in Miami watching high-level college football up and down the state, said FSU’s defense will be the best the Bears have seen so far.

“Last year they won 13 games, which is pretty incredible. That’s a feat that not many teams can do,” Mendoza said. “And although Florida State has an 0-3 start and a lot of people might be ragging on them on social media, they’re still a really good team.”

But after a season-opening loss to conference rival Georgia Tech at Dublin, Ireland, and home defeats to Boston College and Memphis, the Seminoles find themselves at the bottom of the ACC standings and at the top of the USA Today’s College Football Misery Index.

Coach Mike Norvel couldn’t even get through his post-game news conference after the Memphis loss before a fire alarm sounded and a voice came over the loud speaker, saying, “You must leave the building.”

Norvel has his own fire to extinguish. The Seminoles' offense is a smoldering pile of dysfunction.

Regarded as a superb offensive coach, Norvel must figure out why his team is averaging just 15.3 points per game — 19 points fewer than a year ago.

FSU is 128th nationally in total offense (274.0 yards), 125th in third-down conversion rate (26 percent) and 132nd in rushing offense (52.0 yards). And that’s with an offensive line boasting a combined total of 377 college game — most in FBS — and 225 starts, although two starters missed the Memphis game.

Cal tight end Corey Dyches echoes what his coaches and teammates are saying this week.

“I understand they’re 0-3 right now but they’re a really talented team and we’ve to to be on our horses like we have been all season,” Dyches said. “We can’t take ‘em lightly. They’re going to come into this game hungry.

“I know they’re not the same 13-1 team but they’re still pretty good.”

We’ll find out Saturday night.